Well-Heeled: The Smart Girl's Guide to Getting Rich

By Lesley-Anne Scorgie

Financial analyst Lesley-Anne Scorgie lays out the roadmap for young women to be financially independent and debt-free.

Whether you’re financially maxed out or rolling in hundred-dollar bills, if you want to be rich, Well-Heeled is for you!



As a financially independent young woman, you will have the ability to determine the direction of your career and life path, allowing you to reach your full financial potential.



So if you’re ready to make more money, live debt free, and build a nest egg that can support an awesome future – one that’s designed by you and includes the splash, the chic, and the fun – check out Well-Heeled. In it, you will learn how to:

• live frugally without sacrificing life’s little indulgences;
• set a budget that enables you to have guilt-free fun;
• get out, and stay out, of debt;
• fight for your income;
• increase your savings;
• make savvy investment decisions just like the pros;
• and be financially smart in relationships.

This guide will pump up your bank account and empower you to do and be whatever you want in life. Don’t wait for success to come calling – start today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dundurn
• Release date: Apr 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781459724297

Lesley-Anne Scorgie

Lesley-Anne Scorgie is the founder of MeVest, a money school helping Canadians reach their financial potential. She’s also the bestselling author of Well-Heeled: The Smart Girl’s Guide to Getting Rich and Rich by Thirty: Your Guide to Financial Success. She lives in Toronto.

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INTRODUCTION

Whether you’re financially maxed out or rollin’ in hundred-dollar bills, ladies, this book is for you.

Money plays a massive role in our lives. Having money will open doors and give you greater options than if you are without.

Unlike in our mothers’ era, today’s generation of 20- and 30-something young women are financially empowered and have embraced independence, pursuing and excelling at education, building careers, choosing healthy relationships, raising families, travelling, and buying homes, cars, investments, and wardrobes.

We have the ability to transform our money into long-term financial security and still have room in our budgets to celebrate our accomplishments, whether through frugal indulgences, like savouring alone-time, or more expensive ones, like making a charitable donation, buying a new pair of shoes, or taking off for a girls’ weekend to New York City.

The key to balancing life’s competing financial priorities — namely, our needs versus our wants — is to know how to manage money wisely and avoid common financial traps like overspending and debt. Boosting your financial knowledge will unlock your ability to create an incredibly successful and liberating financial future. And yes, the future is expensive! Just think about what home ownership, further education, travel, owning a business, raising a family, and eventual retirement adds up to. But with savvy financial choices now, you can afford your future.

Having money provides us with greater choices in life, and that’s important.

Picture this: you save for five years, and at the age of 30, you have enough for a down payment for your own condominium. Goodbye, roommates! Or you work your tail off for 30 years and can comfortably retire at age 55. Hello, freedom! Or maybe you’re keen to change career paths and can use your savings to upgrade your education. Or perhaps your hockey-loving child has the potential to go pro, and you can afford to support the required training.

On the contrary, when you don’t have money, your choices are limited, which causes stress and uncertainty, forcing you to accept your circumstances instead of being able to choose them. Now picture this: you long to be a homeowner, but are still renting at 50 years old. Or you turn 65, knowing you can’t retire for another decade. Imagine being stuck in a low-paying, dead-end job, without the financial resources to retrain for a better role, or never being able to afford to put your child in extracurricular activities, let alone pursue some of your own interests. In these instances, beyond being miserable, you’re vulnerable.

But this doesn’t have to be your reality.

Today, you have the opportunity to earn your own money and create a life that supports your dreams. And you do not have to be a financial genius to get ahead. As of this moment, the greatest financial asset you own is knowledge. Well-Heeled gives you the skills to make smart financial decisions that will increase your choices, empower you to pursue your dreams, and prepare you to handle the price tags associated with your passions.

We all come from diverse monetary backgrounds, but it doesn’t matter what your bank account balance is; it’s what you do with it that counts!

This is your life. What do you want it to look like?

I Am Not Your Father’s Stockbroker — I’m Something Else Entirely

I’m a 30-year-old woman with a passion for improving financial literacy around the world. I’ve spent over a decade studying personal finance and have developed a unique approach to building wealth and helping people reach their full financial potential. I’ve spoken about my passion on The Oprah Winfrey Show and written two bestselling books, Rich by Thirty: A Young Adult’s Guide to Financial Success (2007), and Rich by 40: A Young Couple’s Guide to Building Net Worth (2010). Both books are dedicated to empowering young people to take control of their finances.

I wasn’t born with financial knowledge, and my parents certainly weren’t experts. At an early age, I simply latched on to the idea of saving for a rainy day and thought I should share my experiences with others.

Years later, my savings habits have paid off, as I’ve tackled tuition bills for university, bought my first home, started a small business, travelled to exciting destinations, and planned for retirement.

A Frugal Upbringing

I was born in Toronto in 1983 into a hard-working middle-class family. When I was seven years old, and my parents didn’t have two nickels to rub together, our family moved west so that my mother and father could pursue their education and retrain for new professions.

Money was scarce, and for nearly a decade my family lived at the poverty line. But through part-time jobs and generous family members, my parents kept a roof over our heads, food on the table, and their tuition bills paid.

Our household thrived on frugality out of sheer necessity. My brother, sister, and I relied on second-hand stores for our bicycles, clothing, school supplies, and toys. We entertained ourselves for free with books and videos from the library, sold lemonade on hot summer days, volunteered at charitable organizations, and helped my mother clip coupons. And, like many children, I grew up reading, hiking, exploring, playing sports, making friends, and using my imagination.

My family lived lean, which taught me to appreciate money, to never pay full price for anything, and to stretch every dollar. Though we lacked material things, we still had love, and that’s what made my childhood magical.

Transforming Fear into Savings

It scared me to watch my stressed-out parents struggle financially and never have any options. So, at age 10, I made it my mission to find ways to earn my own money, to save it, and to grow it.

I purchased my first hundred-dollar government savings bond at 10 years old. I had received the money from my grandparents for my birthday and consulted my mother about what I could do with it. Sure, I could have bought a bicycle, but when she explained that through compounded interest and reinvested returns, my $100 would turn into $135 seven years down the road, I was hooked on saving. That same month I picked up a local flyer route and started babysitting. Before long, I’d saved another $100 and bought my bicycle, which had finally gone on sale. It was then that I realized I could have the things I wanted and save simultaneously.

With guidance from my parents and teachers, and by earning my own money from part-time jobs, I purchased more bonds every year after that, then mutual funds and stocks.

The Oprah Effect

Saving money became my hobby, and in grade 12, after helping teach a Money 101 class to my peers, my financial savvy caught the attention of the local newspaper. The reporter published a front-page article entitled Whiz Kid. The publication was syndicated across North America and discovered by a producer at The Oprah Winfrey Show. In February 2001, at age 17, I was a guest on the show themed Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth. I was the youngest guest by more than 20 years, and my role was to talk about the importance of financial literacy for young people.

Being on The Oprah Winfrey Show changed my life. Oprah believed in me when I was young, and because of her encouragement, I’ve been able to build a career doing what I’m passionate about: promoting financial literacy.

Life after Oprah

Since appearing on the program, I have written and published two bestselling books that cover such topics as basic savings strategies, debt management (and reduction), simple investment techniques, money and relationships, paying for big-ticket items like homes, raising (and financing) a family, and more.

Over the past decade, I’ve pursued formal education in finance and developed an exciting personal brand, my own website (www.lesleyscorgie.com), and a popular blog. I’ve made appearances on numerous television programs, including The Montel Williams Show, MTV Live, and local and national news programs throughout the United States and Canada. I’ve written financial columns for Metro News, the Globe and Mail, Men’s Health magazine, Unlimited magazine, the Toronto Star, and the Calgary Herald. And I own and operate Rich By Inc., a financial consulting company dedicated to providing financial education, resources, and tools to a variety of demographics.

I’ve delivered hundreds of financial literacy presentations to thousands of children, parents, singles, couples, grandparents, entrepreneurs, and business people across North America. I’ve been a spokesperson for Canada Savings Bonds, BMO Bank of Montreal, and the University of Alberta. When I’m not writing and speaking about saving money, I work as a financial analyst in the energy industry.

I am proud to be active in my community. My volunteer hours and donor dollars go toward uplifting women and girls through education, advocacy, and support at critical turning points in their lives.

Striking a Balance

I swear I’m totally normal. I have a job, live in a hip condo in Calgary, Alberta, and my shoe collection makes me smile. I work hard at growing my nest egg, balancing my personal life with my professional one, affording my home, and pursuing my passions. I care deeply about my relationships and have been blessed with a supportive partner, family, and friends. I enjoy travelling around the world, experiencing new things, reading, exercising, and socializing.

What’s unique about my experience, compared to most young women, is that I started saving earlier.

No Fear

Early on, my motivation to save money was based on fear — fear that I’d end up broke, just like my parents. But today my motivation to save is having the opportunity to follow my dreams, knowing that my dreams can change throughout my life. Having money isn’t about accumulating more stuff. It’s about creating options.

I’ve experienced first-hand how making positive financial choices early can pay off monetarily, personally, and professionally by providing increased and better quality options. Today I’m in a financial position where I’m not reliant on a paycheque and can afford to retire in a few short years … not that I would, because I love my work. But I could if I wanted to. I’ve got the freedom to choose.

Having the freedom to choose what I want to do and how I want to do it empowers me to make the best decisions for my life. I’m not reliant on anyone but myself, and I get to call 100 percent of the shots when it comes to choices that affect me.

Why Care about Young Women?

I am passionate about promoting financial literacy for young women because financial knowledge gives a young woman the freedom to make positive choices and pursue her dreams. Research shows that, because of her inherent biological nature to be risk-averse and community-minded, a young woman who knows how to manage money makes solid financial decisions — often better ones than her male counterparts would make.

Sadly, and for a lot of silly reasons, our society doesn’t emphasize passing on financial skills to young women. Rather, mainstream media, magazines, and retailers tell us we need to spend all our money on their products. This is destructive. Picking up this book is your first step toward changing this systemic issue and unlocking your full financial potential.

It’s Your Call

Wherever you’re at financially, I can guarantee that you’re not broke. Broke is when you have nothing — zilch. You’ve got serious assets: you’re intelligent, keen, and hard-working. By the end of Well-Heeled, you will have the knowledge and skills to break unhealthy financial habits and create a financial future that supports your dreams.

You don’t have to be a financial guru to save money and improve your life. Even people like Warren Buffett and Suze Orman had to learn the craft. And you won’t have to sacrifice your happiness for the sake of a dollar, either. Well-Heeled is about learning to celebrate our lives in affordable ways.

Through a balanced approach to managing money, spending wisely, earning more, saving for the future, and giving back, you can create a state of mind in which you have the flexibility to build the rich life you want — hopefully, that life includes tremendous happiness. You define richness.

Rich could mean selling T-shirts on a beach in Thailand with $20,000 to your name, or retiring young in your hometown with zero debt and a $2-million bank balance. There is no right answer when it comes to planning for your future. It’s your future. Created by you. You choose your path.

Pillars of Your Successful Future

Think of your life as having three main pillars: your personal life, your professional life, and your finances. When aligned, these pillars produce the support you need to create an awesome future for yourself. But when one of these pillars is out of balance, the roof that rests upon the three — your future — becomes unstable and has the potential to collapse. For example, perhaps you’ve neglected your partner in favour of advancing up the corporate ladder. Your job promotion would strengthen your finances and career path, but weaken your intimate relationship. If your partner chooses to leave, there will be a gaping hole in the pillar of your personal life, destabilizing your future and bringing you great unhappiness in the process.

Think of it another way. When the pillar of your personal life is strong — i.e., you’ve surrounded yourself with supportive people and have a healthy level of self-esteem — you’ll generate a positive and uplifting environment in which you can thrive. A by-product of thriving personally is feeling motivated both professionally and financially, ultimately strengthening those pillars, too.

Well-Heeled isn’t just about strengthening your personal finances; it’s also about aligning and striking a balance between your personal and professional goals so that you can create a rich and fulfilling future.

What You’ll Find in Well-Heeled

Well-Heeled will give you the skills to create wealth through a balance of approaches to savvy spending, making more money, saving, and giving. This book will walk you through tips to tame overspending, which is the root of debt (when you pay for the past rather than invest in the future — a costly endeavour). It promotes frugal living by learning how to mind your dollars and cents through planning ahead and creating budgets that are not restrictive and boring. By being resourceful and developing greater financial confidence, you will learn how to pump up your cash flow and even get a raise. Discussions on relationships will reveal how closely linked money and relationships truly are. Setting a proper financial foundation will equip you with the tools you need to leverage your unique personal characteristics as you start saving for your future.

Well-Heeled is practical advice for young women, written by a young woman who has proven how empowering financial knowledge can be.

Well-Heeled isn’t meant to change who you are as a person. It’s about being yourself and maximizing your strengths to create a brilliant financial future, making you the ultimate catch — for you, not anyone else.

You have the power to do, be, and have whatever you want in life. So if you’re ready to create an awesome future for yourself, Well-Heeled is for you!

Enjoy the read!

CHAPTER 1

Confessions of an Indebted Shopaholic

Confession

There she was, sitting with a potential client, tense with anticipation. Sheryl sipped on her glass of Chardonnay, taking in the ambience of the hip San Francisco restaurant. At 39 years old, Sheryl was working on one of her biggest deals yet. She leaned closer to hear Pete, the marketing manager of the local theatre production company, describe what he needed in a new website. Making mental notes about Pete’s needs, Sheryl asked clarifying questions, and made her pitch for the business. The bill arrived as Sheryl concluded her pitch. She quickly handed over her credit card, waving Pete off in an I’ll-take-care-of-it fashion. The server returned a few minutes later with a sour look on his face.

Miss, your card has been declined.

Sheryl was embarrassed and horrified. After showcasing her competence in website design, demonstrating her understanding of Pete’s needs, and feeling the chemistry between her and the potential client, she was minutes away from closing a new deal. The last thing on Sheryl’s mind at that particular moment was her

Reviews for Well-Heeled

[AcaciaTree · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really empowering and life changing. I recommend this book to women out there who are driven to improve their financial literacy.

[katsmiao · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book.

I love the tone: it's like your friend giving you advice that you can actually use, not like your parent or financial advisor lecturing you on what you should do.

Funny, easy to read, with really good practical advice to get your finances in order.